Dust control mats and other floor coverings having a pile side and a polymeric backing are generally used in access ways where people tend to brush or scrape their feet in order to prevent carrying moisture and/or dirt into other areas of the premises. Normally these mats are located in areas of high pedestrian traffic such as doorways.
The art includes a number of configurations and features for various floor mats. Some patents which are believed to be illustrative of known floor coverings include U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,808 to Thompson, et al. issued Feb. 28, 1967; U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,065 to Parkins issued May 3, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,692 to Kerr et al. issued Dec. 12, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,214 to Kerr et al. issued Jul. 13, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,530 to Fink issued Aug. 31, 1993; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,565 to Nagahama et al. issued Apr. 26, 1994; the teaching of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, floor mats have conventionally consisted of a plurality of tufts in a primary backing adhered to a vulcanized thermoset rubber backing. Such a backing gives dimensional stability to the fabric surface while maintaining the mat's integrity during industrial wash processing which may involve high speed centrifugal action. The production of launderable floor mats has relied on the use of thermoset rubber backings based on nitrile polymer formulas. While these mats perform very adequately for dirt and moisture removal, it is now recognized that further improvement may be forthcoming in the form of components having antimicrobial properties which are able to retain these antimicrobial characteristics through multiple washings. It is believed that by incorporating the antimicrobial agents within the pile forming yarn and/or the backing, extended activity of the antimicrobial properties of these products may be achieved.